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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568371">We Found Love (In a Hopeless Place)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiImCynth/pseuds/hiimCynth'>hiimCynth (HiImCynth)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ace is insecure what else is new, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Experimental Style, Getting Together, I kinda like it though, Insecurity, M/M, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Self-Worth Issues, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Two Shot, ace thinks he doesn't deserve love, is that the right tag?, ish, they have each others last names</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:08:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568371</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiImCynth/pseuds/hiimCynth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco knows who Ace's father is. He loves him anyway.</p><p> </p><p>(Or, that soulmate au where your soulmate's last name is tattooed on your wrist. Ace has Phoenix. Marco has Gol.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks &amp; Portgas D. Ace, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco &amp; Shirohige | Whitebeard | Edward Newgate, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy &amp; Portgas D. Ace &amp; Sabo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>176</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My idea in this au is that if you have a name on your left arm, it's a romantic soulmate. If it's on your right arm, it's a platonic soulmate. People can have platonic soulmates even if they don't have their name's tattooed on their arms because you only get the name of your platonic soulmate(s) tattooed on your arm if you don't have a romantic soulmate. I imagine Luffy's arm is completely covered in names.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Phoenix? What the hell kind of last name is that?"  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't know, but I've always had it, Gramps says." (I don't want it.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That means your soulmate is older than you. Mine is too."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I bet your soulmate's gonna really like you." (Mine won't.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I hope so. And I hope they're a pirate too."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, if my soulmate isn't a pirate I don't want them." (They wouldn't want me anyway.)</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>"How many soulmates do you have, Luffy?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"A lot! I haven't counted in a while, so there's probably more than last time I did."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Why do you have so many?" (I wish I had that many. I don't deserve that though.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Grandpa says it's because I don't have a romantic soulmate. He says they're pythonic or something. They're all gonna be my friends!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh hey, there's my name!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That means we have to be friends, Sabo!"</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Ace, is it true your dad was the pirate king?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Luffy, be quiet, I told you not to tell him."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Who told you that?" (He's gonna leave me.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Sabo! So is it true?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ow, Ace, that hurt."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Look, Ace, if it's true, your name is on my arm. We have to be friends too!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No, I'm never talking to you again!" (He still likes me?)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ow, Ace, why'd you hit me?"</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>"I'm gonna kill the strongest man in the world." (I </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You're gonna go after Whitebeard? This wouldn't have anything to do with the name on your wrist, would it?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No, it doesn't." (It </span>
  <em>
    <span>doesn't</span>
  </em>
  <span>.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Mhm, sure it doesn't."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It doesn't!" (It doesn't it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't- it does.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Alright then, I won't push. Why don't we drink, this is a party after all?"</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>"Why do you call him Pops?" (I've never had that.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Because he calls us his sons. To the rest of the world, we're outcasts. It's just a word, but it makes us happy."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(I could never have that. No one would want me.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"How long are you gonna keep doing this? You can't possibly take on Pops the way you are now. Are you gonna leave and start over, or are you gonna stay here and accept Whitebeard's mark."</span>
</p>
<p><span>(I want</span> <span>what they have. Can I really stay here?)</span></p>
<p>
  <span>(I will.)</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>"I'm Roger's son." (I wish I wasn't.)</p>
<p>"I know."</p>
<p>"Weren't you enemies? You're not gonna kick me out?" (You don't hate me?)</p>
<p>"It doesn't matter who you're parents are. Everyone is a child of the sea."</p>
<p>(He doesn't care. I'm his son.)</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Hey, Marco, can I come in?" (Please don't hate me.)</p>
<p>"The door's open."</p>
<p>"I have something I have to tell you." (Please don't hate me.)</p>
<p>"What is it, Ace?"</p>
<p>"I'm Gol D. Roger's son." (Please don't hate me.)</p>
<p>"I know."</p>
<p>"You know?" (You don't hate me?)</p>
<p>"Have I ever told you my full name, Ace?"</p>
<p>"No." (What does that have to do with anything?)</p>
<p>"It's Marco Phoenix. My last name is Phoenix."</p>
<p>"Wait, so you're saying you're my-" (Why doesn't he hate me?)</p>
<p>"I'm your soulmate, yes."</p>
<p>"And you knew this whole time?" (Why was he ever nice to me? Out of obligation?)</p>
<p>"Ever since I learned your name."</p>
<p>"You knew?" (Am I crying?)</p>
<p>"Of course I knew."</p>
<p>"How could you still want me?" (Am I <em>crying</em>?) </p>
<p>"Ace, how could I not?"</p>
<p>(<strong><em>Huh?</em></strong>)</p>
<p>"You're strong, smart, funny, it doesn't matter who your father is. You're you. I love you."</p>
<p>(I am definitely crying.)</p>
<p>"Of course, I'm not gonna push you into anything you don't want, whether we're soulmates or not. If you don't feel the same way-"</p>
<p>"No!" (How could he think that?) "No, I love you too, Marco."</p>
<p>"Good, then let me take you out somewhere the next time we dock."</p>
<p>"That sounds nice." (Me? Really?)</p>
<p>"Then it's a date."</p>
<p>(He's leaving, what do I do?) "Actually, there's one more thing." (Good, he stopped.) "Can I have a kiss?"</p>
<p>"Of course you can, Ace."</p>
<p>(This is <em>fantastic</em>.)</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marco's pov</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wrote this one first so it might not line up exactly but i really don't feel like rewriting it. You can think of it like an au of the au.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On New Year's Day, 277 days before Marco turned 24, the name appeared on his wrist. Gol. He'd been with Whitebeard long enough to know whose name it was. Or rather, whose name it had been. But he was dead now. Had been for 15 months (not that Marco was counting), so it was impossible for it to be him. Besides, the name on his wrist was Portgas (Marco had asked once, and the man hadn't been shy to reveal it. Apparently, his soulmate was beautiful.), so it couldn't be him. But he'd been dead for 15 months, over 1 and a half times the length of a normal pregnancy, so it couldn't have been his child either. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>(He asked Pops about it once. He smiled and said, "some things can be overcome by the love a mother has for her child." Marco didn't believe this was one of them, but it seemed Pops did.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was 19 years later when he met Ace, and 3 months after that when Ace joined their crew and Marco learned his full name. Portgas D. Ace. It was 4 weeks after that when Ace told Pops his name was actually Gol D. Ace, though he already knew. It was 3 hours after he told Pops that Ace told Marco. Marco told him his own name in return. Phoenix Marco. Ace cried. ("You knew?") Marco comforted him. ("Of course I knew, Ace.") Ace cried some more. ("How could you still want me?") Marco nearly cried as well. ("How could I not?") Ace wrapped his arms around Marco's middle and buried his face into the blond's shoulder.  ("Thank you.") Marco raised his arms and wrapped them around the boy's shoulders. ("Anytime, Ace.") </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They kissed once that night, but it was enough. They were happy (or at least, they would be), and that was all that really mattered, in the end.</p>
<hr/>
<p>("Roger was executed 15 months before you were born, how did that work?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"My mom, Gramps says she waited 20 months to give birth to me so that no one would find me. She died because of it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It seemed Pops was right, though Marco would never tell him that.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I enjoy comments greatly, they're what keep me alive, so if you enjoy, drop a comment.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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